The Great Badge Switch
by Felix Amortentia
Summary: Why was Hermione wearing a Head Boy badge? Was has Malfoy pinned a Head Girl badge onto his robes? Was someone behind all of this? ONE-SHOT. COMPLETED.


The whole school thought they hated each other so much they'd rather AK themselves than be forced to touch the other with a ten-foot pole for even a second.

So imagine their surprise when Hermione Granger accidentally pinned a Head Boy badge on her proud Gryffindor robes and Malfoy wore a Head Girl badge on his green school robes for an entire day before finally realizing their mistakes.

Naturally, in a school where Lavender Brown and the Patil sisters practically owned the gossip circles, rumors and theories would spread like wildfire.

"Are they dating?"

"Did they submit to all that sexual tension between them?"

"Malfoy probably slipped a potion into Granger's pumpkin juice."

"Are you kidding? Granger was probably the one who wanted Draco so much but knew she couldn't get him and had to resort to using the strongest Amortentia she could brew in private! You can't ever trust Gryffindors."

Of course, the last comment was made by a particularly jealous Slytherin fifth year girl that had tried to "get" the Prince of her house on several occasions but was turned down quite embarrassingly all eleven times. He even threatened a restraining order against her.

It was dinnertime in the Great Hall, and Hermione Granger was furiously trying to unpin the badge but failing due to her oily fingers from all of that fried chicken Ron liked so much.

When she finally succeeded in removing the badge thanks to Ginny's much cleaner fingers, she nearly dropped it in her pumpkin juice in her hurry to put it away and try to forget the entire incident.

Draco Malfoy was in a similar predicament, only he was missing from the Slytherin table and had hidden away in the library with a mask, pair of white latex gloves, and a gallon-sized bottle of hand sanitizer to try and get rid of the stupid badge. He could've sworn it was the right badge this morning! And how did the Mudblood's contaminated possession find its way onto his bedside table?

He cautiously picked the pin up with two fingers, turning his nose up at the Mudblood fumes practically oozing from the object, and then soaked it in the bottle of sanitizer to cleanse it. He wouldn't be picking _that_ up with his bare hands anytime soon.

They found each other in their shared common room and awkwardly played a game of "I'll throw your badge to you if you throw mine to me and we don't talk to each other."

Draco, of course, was wearing a new pair of gloves and sneered at Hermione haughtily before turning on his heel and stalking upstairs to his room.

Hermione wondered for a second why her badge smelled like apples, and then shrugged before going into the kitchen to make a sandwich or two for herself. She hadn't eaten well at dinner because everyone was staring at her and Ron kept staring at her chicken like a man seeing food for the first time in years.

She almost dropped the spatula she was using to fry bacon when in walked her least favorite person in the school, even after Snape.

"Make me some _healthy_ food at least, Granger," he commanded harshly.

"I wasn't and won't be planning on cooking for you anytime soon." She turned around and began removing the bacon from the pan to stack on top of her cheese.

Draco glared at her back childishly. "I want to eat dinner."

"Well, it's your fault for skipping dinner and not knowing how to cook, isn't it?" Hermione sniffed. Who did he think he was? Some spoiled rich boy who thought he could get anything from anyone?

"My father will be hearing about this," Draco threatened. Okay, so maybe he really was some spoiled rich boy who thought he had power over everyone just because his father was one of the most feared and privileged men in the wizarding world.

"See if I care."

"I'm going to owl him right now."

"Go ahead."

"Granger…!"

"What do you want?" she glared at him, taking a vicious chomp out of her sandwich.

"Can I have the other sandwich?" he eyed the second plate of food currently cooling on the countertop and had to force himself not to drool. He couldn't believe he was stooping as low as _asking_ a Mudblood for food.

"Aren't you afraid of my Mudblood germs?" she taunted.

"I can sterilize it with a simple spell."

"Go ahead, then," she gave her assent tiredly. She couldn't finish both of them no matter how hard she tried. Plus, she was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

Draco's eyes snapped from the sandwich to the Gryffindor's face and he studied Hermione suspiciously. "That's it? No strings?"

"No strings," she confirmed. She finished her meal and went to wash the pan and her plates in the sink with dishwashing soap and warm water. "I'm going to bed right now. Turn the lights off and wash the dishes when you're done."

Draco watched her take tired steps and realized she must have gone through as much as he did that day. He picked the sandwich up, and not bothering to use a cleaning spell, took a big bite out of it, wanting to groan when the salty flavor of the bacon and cheese hit his tongue.

He chewed, wanting to run upstairs and ask Hermione how she made such an amazing sandwich and beg her to cook for him every day.

He polished off the sandwich in four huge mouthfuls and smacked his lips thoughtfully, then turned on the faucet, cursing to himself loudly when the water turned out to be scalding hot.

"What happened?" A voice made him turn around quickly, wand ready.

He relaxed slightly when he saw Hermione dressed in a yellow t-shirt and ordinary navy blue pajama pants. "Just burned myself trying to turn on the water. Go back to sleep."

Hermione didn't leave, and walked closer to him, grabbing his burned hand that was currently cradled against his stomach. She saw the blisters beginning to form and gently pushed him away from the sink. "I'll wash the dishes. You can go to your room and take care of that."

"Thanks?" Draco's response came out more like a question and he walked backwards to the stairs, watching the brunette witch turn on the faucet and scrub at the plate with a determined look on her face, then set it on the drying rack with a look of triumph. They were both tired and any effort to move felt like a huge accomplishment.

He stopped her when she made to walk past him and tried to smile at her, although he was almost positive it came out as more of a grimace than a happy expression. "Thank you."

Hermione grinned at him. "No problem. You're not half bad when you're nice, you know? You should try that more often. Goodnight Malfoy."

Draco grabbed her wrist when she began to turn around and planted a kiss on her lips, ignoring the pain in his left hand.

"You're pretty cool yourself, Granger." He smiled genuinely this time.

She leaned up and returned the favor with a peck on his lips. "Thanks."

Meanwhile, Dumbledore sat in his study with his wand in his right hand and a knowing twinkle in his eyes. They didn't have to know he was the one who switched their badges as soon as he saw them enter the Great Hall for breakfast.


End file.
